ABSTRACT
The senior high school reform initiative in the Japanese national curriculum for foreign languages, implemented since 2013, has required Japanese teachers of English (JTEs) to conduct their English classes in English. However, JTEs are provided with little information about the professional development (PD) they will need to carry out this initiative at the classroom and institutional levels. This chapter seeks to investigate the struggles JTEs face with respect to teaching English in English in their classrooms and schools to determine the types of educational support JTEs need. Quantitative and qualitative data from 40 JTEs in senior high schools in the metropolitan Tokyo area is presented. The results reveal that when it comes to the delivery of this initiative, key areas of PD and support for JTEs will include how to make confident language choices in their classrooms and how to promote a culture of change in their respective institutions, even in the midst of institutional pressures to prepare students for university entrance examinations.
